Multilink Magazine

There can’t be many people out there producing electronic music that aren’t already familiar with the Amen Break to some extent. It’s quite possibly the most reused piece of audio since the introduction of sampling.

A few months ago, Nathaniel pointed me in the direction of this tidy and concise 18 minute youtube clip doing an admirable job of explaining the enormous significance of this 6 second drum loop and it’s influence on anything breakbeat related since. I never got around to posting it here and eventually it slipped my mind completely but after it was pointed out to me again this week by someone else (thanks qiU!) I thought I better share before it gets lost again among the mess of other ideas swirling about my mindtank.

Amen Brother: The worlds most important 6 sec drum loop?

Here’s something nice for any of you who share my nostalgic fascination for the various characters who’ve shaped the last 25 years of electronic music.

Gerald’s been an innovator from the start. Setting a solid course in the late eighties with Pacific as part of 808 State and Voodoo Ray on his own, he went on to play a large part in the transition from Hardcore to Jungle. Of the many names that surface during discussions of early UK breakbeat culture, Gerald often seems to get brushed aside in favour of people like Goldie and Bukem. I have enormous respect for all of them but I think most of the original Drum & Bass guys would struggle to argue that they’re weren’t influenced by Gerald’s constant forward thinking approach during that early period.

Enough of my thoughts and opinions. I’m writing this because I stumbled across his site a couple of weeks back and the info section is great. The highlight is a short video made up of parts from a couple of old documentaries; Granada TV’s Madchester from 1990 and Channel 4’s Pioneers docu from 2000. There’s also a great page on Acid House which makes an ideal intro to anyone less familiar with his work or the period in general.

Mini documentary

Gerald on Acid House

A Guy Called Gerald homepage

There’s a great interview with Theo Parrish over at Resident Advisor. The guy’s very opinionated but makes some interesting and solid points. I suggest checking out the links in the first paragraph before you get stuck in, especially the BBC interview.

Theo Parrish interview at resident Advisor

Short 5 minute docu behind the scenes. Hat’s off to these guys, nice to see anything with this much integrity continue to grow.

Cibelle - Green Grass - Official Video from Gustavo Guimaraes on Vimeo.

In an effort to maintain regular updates, I’m inviting a few friends to come up with guest posts. This one comes courtesy of Natural Self, thank you mate…

“This is a song and video that a friend of mine recently brought to my attention. The singer is Brazilian but now resides in London. The song is a cover of a piece by Tom Waits. This is an unusual kind of love song, written as it is, from the point of view of the lover who has already passed away to the lover who remains alive. The video by Gustavo Guimaraes and Adams Carvahlo is perfectly pitched to carry its sombre and gentle beauty.”

I took the afternoon off today for some much required down time, work being pretty hectic as usual. The weather’s surprisingly nice and I couldn’t have asked for a better sofa soundtrack than this as the sun poured in.

Le Sac De Sonido (or ‘The Bag Of Sound’) is the work of Desmond Hollins, you can download the entire release for free at Portuguese net-label Test Tube. This is finding it’s place in my mind somewhere between titles like Gramm’s Personal Rock and Dan Abrams various releases as Shuttle358. If you’re looking to power down for a while and do a little mental housekeeping, this may well sort you out.

Hollins continues to impress. With his three S&S collections of hip hop makeovers (as Katrah Quey) alongside a handful of other releases including the Ceptual project debuted by Miasmah in 2006, this guy is definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Appreciation goes out to Orville for passing me the link, thank you sir.